


The Garden

by PixieBoyBlue



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Tragedy, F/F, I'm Sorry, Not Beta Read, OTP Feels, One Shot, One True Pairing, Pre-Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, Romance, Short One Shot, Sorry Not Sorry, Tragedy, Tragic Romance, YouTube
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-10
Updated: 2015-03-10
Packaged: 2018-03-18 16:34:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3576312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PixieBoyBlue/pseuds/PixieBoyBlue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short one-shot AU set during 4x10. Regina confesses her feelings for Emma before the Spell of Shattered Sight hits.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Garden

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of Kneel-Before-The-Queen's video of the same title and was written to the tune of The Lonely by Christina Perri.  
> Disclaimer: As much as I would love to be the proud owner of an evil queen and the her subjects, I sadly do not.  
> Not beta'd so all mistakes are my own. R&R are always appreciated.

Wind whistled through the apple tree where its carer resided beneath its branches. She couldn't sleep. It had been days. The nightmares never seemed to cease. Every time she closed her eyes she could see herself, ripping out their heart, crushing it before their eyes. No, exhaustion was much more of a comfort than sleep. A town full of friends and family to comfort her, yet she felt so alone. Even Henry's presence seemed filled with a silence that screamed of her fault. Their story had just begun to breathe life until it was stolen away from them. A lonely tear slid down the woman's cheek as she pressed herself further into the tree as if she would somehow mould with it. She hadn't noticed the soft lullaby she had begun humming to herself; one that lulled her off to sleep sometime around 2am.

The clouds of shattered glass were approaching the main town faster than the brunette had hoped. She needed more time to warn select people of the monster she would soon become. Robin knew the dangers of the Evil Queen; she had killed his wife in an alternate past. Henry had read about her in his storybook, but that didn't stop her creating the barrier around her office for his own protection. She wasn't sure how she ended up at the entrance of the sheriff's station, watching the other mother of her son lock lips with that insufferable pirate. No sooner had the one handed wonder left the scene did Regina fill in his place.  
"Emma," she breathed, catching the woman just before she retreated into the building.  
A whirl of blonde revealed a weary expression. "Regina?" There was no denying the tremble in the blonde's voice, but an authorial nod from the former mayor convinced her it was safe to approach. "What are you doing here? You should get to safety and-"  
Her fussing was interrupted by a soft "I will." Regina's statement was as uneven as Emma's had been. The blonde narrowed her eyes with scepticism. "I needed to tell you something before the spell hits."  
A rumble above them warned of the limited time the town had. "Can't it wait until after?" Green eyes switched between the brunette and the sky.  
"There may not be an after" Regina took a step towards Emma who had moved to re-enter the building. Those words, however, halted that journey. She didn't turn, just paused and listened. "The Evil Queen will go after everyone I love, Robin, Henry, even..." she swallowed the next name before it reached her lips. "I just need to know that if I endanger anyone you'll be able to stop me."  
Emma's gaze was wide as she turned to face the brunette. "How?" was a she asked.  
In a few steps the older woman had closed the gap between them, one hand gently placed atop Emma's chest. "You know how," Regina told her.  
It took a moment for the penny to drop, but no sooner had it hit the ground, Emma was in protest. "No- I- Henry would never forg- why me?"  
A chuckle emanated through Regina's chest. "Henry knows I'll do anything to protect him. As for why... well because..." she faltered, question herself on exactly  _why_  she had chosen to warn Emma and entrust her with such a task. She tucked a stray hair behind her ear, hoping it would help her thought process, "because..."  
 _Screw it_ , the brunette thought as she closed the gap between them, kissing the blonde fiercely.  
Emma pulled away instantly, reaching to touch the ghost of the brunette's lips. She stared back as Regina, unsure of how to feel in that moment; of what to feel. There was only one was to find out.  
"D- do that again." She received a quizzical look, waiting for the 'are you serious?' to slip from red tinted lips. Instead she felt those firm lips against hers once more; softer this time. Neither of the pair noticed as they were engulfed in a swirl of purple that dissipated to reveal the vault beneath the cemetery. Neither woman released the others lips as they wrapped their arms around each other, finding home around waists and laced into hair. It was a roll of thunder that pulled them apart. Time was nearly up.  
Emma caught the fear as the brunette scrutinised their surroundings. "Regina, what's wrong?"  
She couldn't look at the saviour, she knew what would happen if she did. "I just want..." but she couldn't conclude her sentence as mirror shards began to rain around them. She offered the sheriff a shy, but reassuring smile before instructing "close your eyes," which, although confused why, Emma obeyed. Another roll of thunder at startled the couple, but Regina demanded the blonde's eyes remain shut. She felt a light kiss dance across her lips before the sensation blew away.  
Curiosity got the better of the sheriff and she peeked an eye open. She was back outside the station.

Regina lay a gentle kiss on the blonde's lips as she rose a hand to hover above her chest. She couldn't watch as the familiar purple smoke carried the blonde to safety; away from her. For extra measure she installed a lock-in barrier to restrain herself from pursuit. Exhausted she collapsed to the stone cold floor and allowed the storm of glass to do its worst.

Confused and angry, Emma stormed back into her workplace where she was greeted by an eager acquaintance.  
"Emma!" Elsa shouted, following the address with a flurry of questions regarding her recent whereabouts and if she'd seen the Snow Queen. The realisation of the town's situation hit the Sheriff like a snowball to the face – literally, as the other blonde attempted to gain her attention. "Did you hear anything I just said?" she grumbled.  
Emma wiped the snow from her face as she replied "something about needing an equal level of hatred to counter the ribbons-" an idea struck her then. In a swift motion she announced her plan and rushed to the exit to enact it.

If being locked in her own vault was bad enough, her unflattering wardrobe certainly topped it off. The Evil Queen scoured the shelves for a potion or spell that would break down the self inflicted containment shield. A distant murmur announced the arrival of a trespasser, one that would receive due punishment.  
"You" she addressed the company upon seeing who it was. "Perfect timing, Miss Swan" she hissed, "I was just reading up on how to turn you into a garden topiary." A hand thrust in the blonde's direction, hurling her against the brick wall behind her. The saviour was quick to recover, using her own magic to knock the Evil Queen to the ground. She approached the standing queen and for a brief moment their attacks ceased. Then Regina lunged forward, a hand headlong for the other woman's chest, but her wrist was caught by the blonde's strong hand as the other managed to push the queen to her knees. She tried to struggle free of the grasp, but it only encouraged the prolonging of her torment. A leather clad arm plunged elbow-deep into a corseted chest, prizing out the heart that it protected. Regina could do nothing but stare up at the blonde as she waited for her next move. A harsh squeeze caused her to convulse forwards, her fall caught short by a firm grip, a finger lifting her chin to stare into hollow green eyes.  
"Wh- who taught you that?" the queen breathed.  
A smirk played at the corner of thin lips. "I learn from the best" the blonde whispered close to her ear before standing, allowing the other woman to fall back on her knees. She held the Evil Queen's heart like a trophy and gave it a pleasing squeeze, watching the brunette writhe helplessly below her.  
It was clear the blonde's fun was coming to an end when voices could be heard above once again.  
"You won't get away with this" Regina strained. She saw the smirk return to the blonde's face.  
"On the contrary, dearie," her voice hushed, as the new company drew ever nearer, "I don't intend to." The organ disintegrated to a pile of ashes in the blonde's fist.  
Kneeling before the queen, Rumplestiltskin sighed. "Don't look at me like that, Regina" he told her, closing the dead eyes that stared up at him and cupping the still warm cheeks.  
"We both knew this day would come, and now" he reached into the corset and pulled free a small vial, "I can take back what's mine."  
The voices were inside the vault now, so the imp made himself scarce; vanishing in a puff of crimson smoke.

"Regina!" Emma shouted, knowing full well the dangers of addressing the Evil Queen so informally. When no answer came she called out again. Still no answer came. Though still unsure of the safety of the scene, the blonde entered the deepest room of the vault. Her eyes fell on the mound of black material curled in the corner and hurried to it. She fell to her knees to cradle the limp body close to her chest; the weight of death clinging to the brunette. It was there, hunched over the woman, that she spotted the pile of dust on the floor that could only be recognised as one thing.  
"Elsa!" the second blonde finally entered the scene, shocked to see her friend's grief over the queen. Emma didn't look up as she instructed "get me a heart."  
"What?"  
The sheriff looked up at her friend, tears dancing on the edges of her eye as she repeated "get me one of Regina's hearts!"  
"Emma-"  
"Her mother's heart," her eyes lit up with hope. "Her mother's heart is in the cabinet, third column, second row."  
Else shook the other blonde away from Regina's body. "Emma," she forced the sheriff's chin to face her, "she will kill you." Emma didn't care. She scrambled to get to the wall of hearts, but the other woman's hold would not relinquish. She kicked and and screamed into Elsa's chest, pounding at her ribs to try to break free, but she refused to budge. Finally giving up, she ripped back from the woman and collapsed onto the brunette in a fit of sobs and wheezes, gripping the dark material of her dress in attempts to ground herself.  
There she stayed, under the watchful eye of Elsa, grieving over a story that had ended before it was written.

At the strike of 2am Emma came out from under the apple and entered the mansion, a familiar scuffle hurrying up the stairs.  
"You should be in bed" she told the boy as he retreated onto the landing.  
"And you should stop blaming yourself for something that wasn't your fault," a voice came from beside her. There, in the frame of a circular mirror, was her lost love. A memory trapped in the glass.  
"I wish it were that easy, after what happened, Henry locked himself away. Even if I try talking to him he's... stubborn."  
"Remind you of anyone?" Regina's laugh echoed in Emma's ears.  
A small smile tugged at the blonde's lips before her features fell and she breathed out "I miss you."  
Regina sighed "I-"  
"Mom?" Henry's voice came through the hall. Emma whipped round to see the boy stood on the stairs watching her. "Who are you talking to?" he asked with a concerned frown.  
His mother motioned to the mirror, but the woman was gone. She turned back to her son. "No one, kid" she sighed, "just myself."  
Just a memory. A face in the shadows of early morning hours. Now and forever just a memory.


End file.
